I went into the kitchen to grab my purse and Ms. Parker stopped me on my way out.
“Elena dear, thank you so much for stepping in to help tonight. I think the gala was a huge success and Mr. Blu seemed very pleased. Enjoy your day off tomorrow and I will see you on Monday morning!”
“Thank you Mrs. Parker.”
I went home feeling sick to my stomach about work and I hoped that Sebastian wouldn’t hold it against me that I turned him down. I climbed into bed a little while later and stared up at the ceiling in the dark replaying the night in my head. Sebastian was dangerously gorgeous and it would be really easy for me to get caught up in him, especially since he’d made it clear he was into me. But the last thing I needed was to have people at work gossiping about us, and I was on the career track, I didn’t have time for a man to derail my plans. If I could get this next promotion, that would mean a big bump in my pay and once I found another roommate I could really start to save a lot of money. If I stayed on track I could open my boutique hotel in a few short years. I could not let Sebastian Blu ruin everything for me. I would have to find a way to apologize to him and if I had to get on my knees and beg him not to fire me, I wasn’t above doing that.
Chapter Four – Next Steps
I tried to enjoy my day off but all I could think about was work and by bedtime I could barely fall asleep, drifting in and out of sleep all night, and when I woke up Monday I was dreading going in to work. I took my time getting ready and mentally prepared myself to have to beg for my job if it came to that. I walked into the hotel doing my best to appear as if it was any other day and not the day I was expecting to get fired. I put my things away and took a deep breath before going out to the front desk to check on everyone. An hour into the day I started to relax a bit because everything was just as it always was, and then I got the phone call.
“Ms. Sumner, Mrs. Hargrove would like to see you in her office. A car is waiting for you outside to take you to the corporate office.”
I felt the blood drain from my face as I hung up the phone. My mouth went completely dry and it felt like I had a softball sitting in the bottom of my stomach. Mrs. Hargrove was fourth in charge at Blu Sierra hotels under Sebastian and his brothers and I knew that this could not be good. As I rode to the corporate office I had to practice calming breathing exercises because I just knew I was going to be fired. Could I sue them if the real reason I was getting fired was because I turned down Mr. Blu? How could I ever prove that? I felt sick to my stomach on the elevator up to the 30th floor and I sat in the reception area waiting to be called, subtly performing breathing exercises. A few minutes later a gorgeous, leggy blonde came to greet me.
“Ms. Sumner?”
“Yes?”
“Mrs. Hargrove will see you now. Will you follow me, please?”
I reluctantly followed her and I could feel my heart banging against my chest with each step, my hands slightly trembling. I balled them in tight fists at my sides so that the trembling would not be noticed. We continued down a hallway for what seemed like forever and then we finally made it to a dark, ornate door and she lightly tapped on it announcing our arrival. When she opened the door I was blown away by how beautiful Mrs. Hargrove’s office was. There were beautiful crystal vases filled with fresh flowers everywhere and a gorgeous chandelier sparkled like a bowl of diamonds. The girl left quickly and I was face to face with Mrs. Hargrove. Please let this be quick and painless. I don’t think begging this woman for my job is going to do anything. I thought maybe if a man was firing me I might be able to flirt my way out of it the way I had flirted my way out of so many things in the past. But flirting with this woman? Not so much.
“Ms. Sumner, please have a seat.” She was all business.
I sat across from her massive desk and folded my hands, my pits sweating like crazy, waiting for the hammer to drop.
“Let me get right to the point.”
Please, I can’t stand this torture much longer.
“You are being promoted to Vice President of Marketing for the hotel.”
Say what?
I sat there dumbfounded, positive that my hearing had just failed me. I knew I was staring at Mrs. Hargrove but words and my brain decided they wanted to stop working together.
“Ms. Sumner, did you hear me? Are you alright?”
Elena, snap out if it! Say yes!
“Yes! Yes I heard you, but I think that you must have me confused with someone else.”
That seemed to tickle her funny bone because she could not stop laughing. “Oh goodness, I haven’t had a hearty laugh like that in a long time.” Her laughing calmed down and her eyes were pensive as they searched mine. “You weren’t joking, were you?”
“No ma’am.”
“Ms. Sumner, you are the new VP of marketing.”
The words floated in the air and I said the first thing that came to my mind.
“You mean I’m not fired?” I wanted to curl up and hide as soon as the words slipped from my mouth. Way to f**k things up before they even get started.
Mrs. Hargrove gave me a most peculiar stare.
“Fired? Whatever would give you that idea? Ms. Sumner, surely you must be aware that you are a rising star at Blu Sierra Miami. You became a manager faster than anyone in the history of the entire company. Your performance at the gala was the final test to see how you fare under pressure. Your supervisor was extremely pleased with how you handled Mr. Blu’s section that night.”
Wait, this is all moving a little too fast, let’s just take a deep breath for a second and let her words sink in. So Sebastian must not have mentioned to anyone that I didn’t fall at his feet like he expected. I was really proud of myself for doing the right thing that night. I looked at Mrs. Hargrove and then looked around the room as the reality of the situation finally hit me. I was being promoted to Vice frickin’ President of Marketing! My eyes settled back on Mrs. Hargrove and I gave her my biggest smile.
“This is all so overwhelming to me Mrs. Hargrove so please excuse my hesitation, I am absolutely thrilled to have this wonderful opportunity.”
“Well, we are pleased to have you. Now, let’s cover the administrative information. Your office is all set up for you and your executive assistant will walk you through your schedule and will be there for anything you might need. Do not hesitate to call on her, because she is meant to be your support. You have a meeting with the heads of each department at 2:00 and they meet once a month. If you need anything, let your assistant know and she will see to it that it is taken care of. Do you have any questions?”